Growing Super: Chapter 10

Jack debated on whether or not he should bring his suit to school today. Despite not allowing him to fly with his power while in it, it had some advantages to it, like the anti-gravity system in it. His decision made, Jack slid it on over his head, the suit flexing slightly as he pulled it on. The rest of his clothes went on after it, and he went downstairs to get ready for school.

His mom was nowhere to be found, and a note laid on the kitchen table. It read: Jack, a problem arose at work and I had to come in early. Get outside in time for the plane, and I’ll be back at school around lunchtime. Love, Mom. P.S. don’t forget to brush your teeth. He shrugged and took a bite out off his egg sandwich before turning on the T.V.

It was already on the news channel when Jack turned it on, and the team was just going through the weather report. He watched mindlessly while eating his sandwich until he saw an alert pop up. Some villain had done a massive amount of damage to a town in Ohio and had escaped from the two supers that had tried to bring him down. Dozens of houses were destroyed, and at least twenty people were already confirmed dead. A chill raced up his spine when Jack realized that this was one of the villains his parents had told him about, one that would kill just because they could.

Jack turned off the T.V. after the alert was over and headed outside to wait for the plane. Feeling a little paranoid from the news, he couldn’t stop looking around, trying to see if there was a villain watching him, waiting for the right time to strike. To shake the feeling, he decided to fly around in his yard for a bit, hoping to take his mind off of the story. It surprised him that she was able to fly with the suit on but folded up, but decided that it made sense. When the suit was folded out, it covered his whole body, but when it was folded up, it only covered his chest. Either way, flying around took his mind off of the story and after what seemed like only a couple of laps around his yard, he heard the jet approach.

He slowed to a stop and stepped onto the plane, taking his seat next Max. The flight passed in almost complete silence except for the greeting at the beginning, and then they went their separate ways at school. Jack’s first class was history with Stone Age, an old superhero with the ability to take on the properties of any rock or mineral. Jack chuckled at the irony of his name; Stone Age in a history class.

When he reached the class, he was surprised to find that Stone Age looked just like another normal person; tall and skinny with glasses. He didn’t look anything like the big, bulky hero you always saw in the comics or movies. Jack took his seat and waited for him to start his class, hoping that it would be on something cool like a war or an alien invasion that no one knew about. He was disappointed when Stone Age, or Mr. Lambert, as he liked to be called, started talking about the history of their school.

Despite talking about school, the one subject every student can be guaranteed to dislike, he held everyone’s attention with the enthusiasm he had about the subject. He told them about what events lead to the idea of the school, who helped to build it, and why the governments allowed them to train future heroes and villains.

When Mr. Lambert paused for a breath, Jack raised his hand. The teacher saw it and pointed at him, telling him to ask away.

“But why did the founders decide to make the school in the sky?” Jack asked him.

“Ah, good question,” Mr. Lambert said, nodding his head in thought before answering. “I believe that it was for the political neutrality of the situation. We accept students from every country, and exchange, they allow us to travel through their airspace. A lot of countries have policies restricting supers from, entering their country and this way, no single country can lay claim to owning us, so they all have to share.”

“Now, back to what I was saying before… Do we have enough time?” He interrupted himself, looking at his watch. As if answering his question, the bell rang and all of the students hurried to the door.

“Your homework for tonight is to research one of the founding school members and take notes on them.” Mr. Lambert raised his voice in an attempt to be heard over the clamor of the students. They groaned and shuffled out the door, Jack being the last one to leave.